Mendoza hat-trick sinks FC Goa

<g data-gr-id="20">Stiven</g> Mendoza scored the first hat-trick of the tournament as Chennaiyin FC thrashed FC Goa 4-0 in a third round match of Indian Super League football here on Sunday.

Chennaiyin FC, who had lost their earlier two matches, showed determination to win on Sunday as they displayed an impressive attacking style of football to outplay FC Goa with Mendoza finding the back of the net in the 10th, 63rd and 75th minutes.

Captain and marquee player Elano Blumer got the other goal for the visiting side in the 43rd minute as Chennaiyin silenced the supporters of the Zico-coached home team at the Nehru Stadium to record their first win in the tournament. Mendoza put the rival defense under pressure with his speedy runs and he put his team ahead in the 10th minute. The home team then succumbed to the pressure and conceded another goal before the interval through Elano.

Colombian Mendoza, who was a constant threat to the FC Goa defence, then scored two more goals in the 63rd and 75th minute to kill the contest.

The home team, who were a disjointed lot with their midfield not working and defence crumbling under pressure, came with couple of good moves and nearly pulled one back in the second half but substitute C S Sabeeth’s shot hit the bar.

FC Goa defender Lucio also got injured after coach Zico <g data-gr-id="25">have</g> made all the three substitutions and they played with 10 men in the last 10 minutes. Zico fielded the same team that played in the last two matches -- one won and one drawn. Chennaiyin coach Marco Materazzi made four changes from the team that played last, bringing in Jayesh Rane, Raphael Augusto, Mehrajuddin Wadoo and <g data-gr-id="28">Mailson</g> Alves in place of Manuele Blasi, Abhishek Das, Balwant Singh and Alessandro Potenza.